One of Staffordshire’s longest serving firefighters who was among the first at the scene of a devastating mill blast has retired after 38 years.

Dave Davies, who first joined Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service as a teenager, revealed the most memorable – and harrowing – incident he dealt over the four decades was the huge inferno at Bosley Wood Flour Mill.

The explosion on July 17, 2015 killed four workers and left many others suffering with serious injuries together with the psychological trauma of their ordeal.

Dave, now aged 56, recalled: “There have been so many memorable moments over the years – far too many to recall but one of the saddest has to be the Bosley Wood Treatment fire where we assisted colleagues from Cheshire. Those who lost their lives in that fire were from Biddulph so the incident really hit home and was really difficult to deal with.”

Dave Davies pictured in 2009 when he was nominated for a Sentinel Our Heroes award

Dave, whose father was a firefighter, first joined the service in September 1979 as an 18-year-old.

He was based at his home station in Biddulph fitted his duties around working as a mechanic in a textile mill and then as a coal miner.

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When the Silverdale Colliery closed, he took up the role of a technician with the fire service, travelling around the Staffordshire Moorlands fitting smoke alarms in homes.

In 2006, Dave successfully applied to become a full-time firefighter, working first at Burton, then Burslem before transferring to Hanley where he continued to work as crew manager.

Dave was one of the first at the scene of the Bosley Wood Flour Mill blast

Dave added: “I have dedicated my life to the service, committing 120 hours a week on call around my other full-time jobs.

“This meant my family also gave up a lot of their lives and they have been very supportive – for example I was never able to have sole care of my children in case my pager went off. I intend to make up for this now and will be spending a lot of time with my grandchildren.

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“It’s strange not listening for my pager anymore, actually being able to switch off and relax – it’s going to take some getting used to. But we’ve got a family holiday to look forward to and I’m sure my wife will find me lots of jobs to do. Now I’ve got some spare time I’ve also taken up golf so we’ll see how that goes.”

Dave was presented with a cake on his retirement

Last weekend, Dave was joined by colleagues, friends and family at Biddulph Town Hall where he was presented with a certificate congratulating him on his retirement and thanking him for his work.

He added: “My colleagues are friends for life who I will still see about town. I’ve got so many brilliant memories from over the years and I would encourage anyone who is thinking of joining as a retained firefighter to go for it.

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“Over my time I have definitely seen a decline in the number of fires, which is good because it means people are safer, you don’t want to get called to incidents but when you do this is where you really learn, the training is essential but you learn so much at each real incident.”

Dave Davies, left with station manager Carl Mason

Station manager Carl Mason added: "I’d like to commend Dave on the commitment that he has shown to the fire service and his local community. It takes a very dedicated person to devote their spare time to helping to protect the public when they are also working in other roles as Dave has.